Now that we are well into the 2014 year for Baseball, Topps is starting to release those products that I can tell are a result of having to produce too many sets each year. Collectors are soon going to be facing a very similar situation in football come 2016, especially as Panini tries to build out a nauseatingly huge calendar to make up the money spent on licensing.

Here are some of the cards up so far:

2014 Bowman Platinum Byron Buxton Red Refractor Auto Jumbo Patch

2014 Bowman Platinum Jose Abreu Canary Diamond Refractor Auto

2014 Bowman Platinum Kris Bryant Red Refractor Auto

2014 Bowman Platinum Miguel Cabrera Cutting Edge Die Cut Auto

2014 Bowman Platinum Miguel Sano Relic Auto

Bowman Platinum is another prospect and rookie focused product that follows other recent releases that also have a very similar checklist. The difference is that unlike previous releases, this one is about as hideous as it gets. The design of some of the cards is so bad, that I am actually surprised that Topps put their name on it. Although concepts can get repetitive, you dont usually see ugly sets from them. Its just not like Topps.

In fact, previous years of Bowman Platinum have been a very simple design, although that doesnt necessarily support the need for this set to exist. There are already closer to 10 prospect products that Topps puts out, and I would argue this has been the weakest historically.

Funny enough, Panini actually put out a very similar looking concept back in 2009 with Limited Football, which was actually just as ugly save a few nice cards. This set literally is a complete fucking dog, and I really dont know how else to put it. Not only is the checklist strikingly similar to Inception, Finest and other rookie/prospect heavy releases, but it is literally hard to look at. The boxy lines and triangular type motif does not do the card any favors, and the jersey swatches are almost lost in the mix.

Inception had its issues, but for the most part the cards looked pretty clean and simple. These are literally some of the busiest cards of the year, and as most can attest, busier does not mean better.

Now, the base cards with on card autographs arent horrible, which is probably because they dont feature a lot of the same angular elements. However, adding colored parallels make the cards look like alien spaceships are hovering over the players, which looks really weird. The design is more simple, and it doesnt feel like I am looking at the Empire Strikes Back in baseball card format. The oddly composed die cut inserts and relic autos more than make up for this in horrendous composition, especially when the background is more prominent than anything on the card.

I sincerely hope you havent subjected yourself to this, as it is really, really not even close to good.